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Xiaomi Begins Hiring Frenzy for Ambitious Electric Car Project

More and more tech companies are getting ready to step into the automotive industry, with companies like Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO already laying the groundwork for their first car models.
Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun will lead the EV team 1 photo
Photo: GizmoChina
Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is one of the firms ready to invest billions of dollars in their automotive expansions, with the company’s CEO himself confirmed to lead the project just to make sure everything is going exactly as planned.

And as it turns out, Xiaomi wants to make its self-driving EV happen as often as possible, with the company now reportedly looking for engineers to fill a number of critical roles related to the development of the car.

For example, Xiaomi is looking for engineers for the development of embedded software, high-precision maps, simulation software, front-end development, millimeter-wave algorithms, and vehicle-mounted infrastructure.

These job ads, including the one for high-precision maps, seem to suggest Xiaomi is indeed planning to build a self-driving car, and more importantly, the company wants it to run on as many in-house components as possible.

Xiaomi is very likely to follow in the footsteps of Apple, as it is expected to release its EV slightly ahead of the Cupertino-based rival.

Apple is also working on a self-driving electric car, and people familiar with the matter said on several occasions the debut is likely to take place in 2024 or 2025 at the earliest. But unlike Xiaomi, which can rely on domestic carmakers for the manufacturing of its EV, Apple has been struggling for many months to find a partner to take care of the Apple Car production.

After failed talks with Hyundai and Nissan, Apple is likely to turn to a joint venture formed by Magna and LG, with a final decision in this regard expected to be made by the summer. Apple’s backup plan could be an EV manufacturing deal with Foxconn, the company’s number one iPhone maker.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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